For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep.

The BH16NS40 has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Taiyo Yuden's 52x media, the drive starts writing at about 21.59x and accelerates, reaching a maximum speed of 48.97x at the end of the session. This gave LG's new drive an average writing speed of about 36.98x.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden media rated at 52x. The results are below.

Size in MB

Size in Time

LGBH16NS40

LGBH14NS40

LGBH12LS38

PlextorPX-LB950UE

701MB

79:44:21

2:39

2:41

2:40

2:47

LG's new drive did very well in our CD writing tests. Thanks to its 48x CD writing speed, the BH16NS40 was able to write an entire 701MB CD in 2:39.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Nero CD Speed. This utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors as well as the jitter level on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52327S and read the discs at 32x.

HP 52x (CMC)

MBI 52x

Taiyo Yuden 52x

The BH16NS40's writing quality was very good. By looking at the screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors. More importantly, there were no C2 errors at all.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using InstantBurn from CyberLink. Verbatim's 24x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the BH16NS40 uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 24x. The drive starts rewriting at about 16x and then jumps to its maximum speed at the 18 minute mark.

Software

LGBH16NS40

LGBH14NS40

LGBH12LS38

PlextorPX-LB950UE

Nero

2:45

2:45

2:28

2:49

InstantBurn Write

2:39

2:36

2:27

2:42

InstantBurn Read

1:56

1:57

3:05

1:55

LG's new Blu-ray Disc writer didn't do as well as some of the other drives we've tested. Due to its Z-CLV writing method, the BH16NS40 took 2:45 to write 400MB with Nero and 2:39 to do the same with InstantBurn.